Cingular 8525 Review

After two days of exclusively using the 8525, I'm frustrated by the form factor. I want to text message but I hate opening up the keyboard to do that. It drives me crazy!

Plus I learned today at the football game that if you are in an area where data is down (due to 90,000 spectators), you can't TEXT message at all!!!! That is unbelievable! The Cingular software puts the SMS into Outlook and requires a data connection...which totally defeats the purpose IMO.

On Modaco, you mean the switch to OpenNIC DNS servers? If so, yeah that it a very cool change to make. I think I'll wait a little on ROM updates ...

Originally Posted by rockky

hey....just a word...that
the xda-developers site's info on rom and radio upgrading
and...modacos dns setting recommendations have sent this device (tytn) performance soaring
what was once 500-700kbps performance is now 800-1100 consistently.
dwell within those sites for a while!

After two days of exclusively using the 8525, I'm frustrated by the form factor. I want to text message but I hate opening up the keyboard to do that. It drives me crazy!

Plus I learned today at the football game that if you are in an area where data is down (due to 90,000 spectators), you can't TEXT message at all!!!! That is unbelievable! The Cingular software puts the SMS into Outlook and requires a data connection...which totally defeats the purpose IMO.

Is it that way on the unlocked version? If so, I may have to forget this phone. :(

Well, Cingular is showing the phone available in my area, but still no 3G coverage. I'm saving my pennies and as soon as it's more than just a rumor that we're getting it soon, I'll plop down the cash to buy it. I'm a while from being eligible for an upgrade, so since I'm paying full price, I'm definitely waiting for the UTMS coverage.

Now, aside from the audio jack question from earlier, I have another. Those of you using this phone already, are you getting the 3G coverage with your existing data plans, or do you have to subscribe to a different package? This is a biggie as I'm still on the $20 MediaNet deal from a few years ago...

With regard to the no sms sending, I do know that the htc devices handle sms a little differently in that not only is sms just a part of the whole messaging app, it will stick a message in draft it can't get service connection..as opposed to the treo's where they will put a message into the outbox and automatically send upon getting a signal. (I miss this feature). However, if you're saying that it's ability to send is dependent on data coverage and not just voice service, then I definitely don't know why.

I know this is a Cingular thread and I'm on T-Mo, but as I have a Tytn, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the Tytn. After 2.5 days of being on this phone, I am really loving it. It definitely is faster and a step up from my MDA. And although T-mo doesn't have 3G and probably won't well into next year, I have to say that it was still worth the purchase...between the extra processing speed and extra buttons and the wonderful scroll weed, it was worth it! Oddly enough, I did a couple of dslreports speedtests on both this phone and my mda and it seems to be coming back at twice the speed of the mda. I am assuming it's just a function of the processor, but it's definitely so. My only complaint, as I've written earlier, is the lack of "phone pad for t9 - one handed use...anyone know where I can purchase or rip a t-9 pad, I'd appreciate it. Also I have noticed that the phone does get "stuck" every now and then. I am monitoring this as I have seen it on the htcwiki.

I'm used to the Treo 650 which does not require a data connection to SMS, just phone service. If you are in a dead spot, the SMS is held in a Outbox on the 650 and immediately sends when you return to a service zone.

With the 8525, SMS's are held in a drafts folder and do not send until your data connection is restored.

let me clarify for everyone as I was on a treo 600 and 650 before the mda and now the tytn. the treos will store an sms when it cannot get a service connection (voice)..it has nothing to do with data service. if you turned off the data connection and only had the voice service on, it would still send. SMS in general does not require data connection. what all of the htc devices do, is that if the voice service is not available, it puts the message into drafts instead of outbox when you hit send. you then have to go into the draft, open and hit send again for it to go. Basically, what I'm saying is that sms is not a data type of message and the difference between the treo and the htc devices, is that when there's no voice reception or minimal reception, the treo will hold the message in the outbox until it receives reception and then it sends. The HTC devices put the sms into draft and you have to manually send.

This is what MVT said: "SMS's are held in a drafts folder and do not send until your data connection is restored."

That's what I'm trying to clarify for myself. Is it data connection or just data availability? It sounds like he's saying the SMS will not work if there's no data connection, which I hope isn't true. I hope he meant availability.

This is what MVT said: "SMS's are held in a drafts folder and do not send until your data connection is restored."

That's what I'm trying to clarify for myself. Is it data connection or just data availability? It sounds like he's saying the SMS will not work if there's no data connection, which I hope isn't true. I hope he meant availability.

I also think that voice signal should be enough to send an SMS.

Phone Diva, I'm sure that it's just that the phone needs voice only. I can't believe Cingular would require that data be on. I'm on T-Mo and use both mda and tytn and it's only required that voice be on. It may have been the case for him that voice wasn't available as well as data and that's why it couldn't send. It is annoying that it doesn't go to outbox like the treo does, but I've learned to live with it as another "less than" piece of SMS on the htc devices.

By the way, I just realized that you are the once and future queen known as Lady Treo...very glad to see that you're around. I thought you had just dissappeared.

l am very impressed with the reception and call quality on the 8525. Here at my home (amongst fir trees) I was always disappointed with my 650. And over at a friends house, my treo would lose reception.
Not so with the 8525 - Great Reception. (and I'm not talking about bars)

The casing seems to be a little softer than the Treo's. I've dropped my treo many times, and was always amazed at how well it took it. I dropped the 8525 today - Big Gouge. :(

I'm still not sure if the bigger screen on the 8525 makes up for not having the always available, easy to use, pleasantly spaced keys that I loved about the treo's keyboard.

I understand there will be a learning curv, but my 650 was a breeze to use right out of the box.

it took me awhile to get used to the mda after leaving the 650, but I really do love the widescreen of these devices. and now after being on the tytn and having the clickwheel I'm in love with it. I would tell anyone using the 8525/tytn, they should also get AEButton Plus. I used it on the mda too, but now on the tytn, it was really great to map the voice-recorder button on the left of the device and the comm manager button on the right of the device in order to create left and right keys in addition to the scroll wheel. now I rarely have to move my hands beyond how I hold the device while scrolling. AEButton Plus allows you to assign up to 4 assignments (not just applications) to each button.